Chapter Text
A large, straw broom ran against the dirt-encrusted floors of the majestic school. I swept the broom over the hidden corners between the tall, colorful lockers, gathering the visible dust and cobwebs. The other palace servants always abandon the large, disgusting messes for me. I sigh heavily, looking over the dusty, crusty mess. I always figure that since I’m stuck here, I might as well do what I can anyways, so I sweep up the floors with as much quality as possible.
“Outta the waayyyy!”
A younger, feminine voice echoed through the halls. I subconsciously turned my head to the voice before I could even process the situation. A blur of light blonde and pastel pink flashed before my eyes before I felt an impact against my body. Before I even had a chance to react, I crashed onto the floor, the broom flying out of my hand. Once I was sure that the sudden collision was over, I opened my eyes to look at whatever it was that ran like a bullet into me. White feathers slowly floated to the ground. Wait-feathers? I felt a heavy weight against me and looked down, finding a strange-looking girl sprawled out and dizzy.
“Oh, goodness! Are you alright, miss?”
“Huh…hang on- Pause the game for a quick second-...“
The girl scrambled up, putting a hand on the wall to maintain her balance. I looked up, blinking a few times to comprehend what I was seeing. The girl seemed younger than a typical student at the school and no taller than 5’4”, for her entire stature. She had caramel-blonde hair settled into two pigtails, with two short, dull, white horns resting there as well. She had a pretty, young face; one of her eyes a bright yellow and the other a light purple. The girl wore a light pink and white frilly dress with a white undershirt which provided a turtleneck snug around her neck. The undershirt had long sleeves that puffed out at the forearms but cuffed at the wrists, adorned with intricate lace. The skirt was loose, the front of it stopping just above her knees and the back trailing down to the middle of her calves. The edges were trimmed with white ruffles that flowed like little clouds on a river of cherry blossoms. She wore two white, satin gloves and small, white ankle boots with 3” tall heels. The most peculiar things I noticed, however, were her feather coated wings and long, scaled tail. The girl’s wings were plain white, with few pale pink feathers near the bone base. Her tail, adorned with a heart-shaped tip, was about the length of her legs and had a white base, with some visible swirls of pastel yellow.
A young boy zipped down the hall, stopping just in time before he crashed into the girl. The boy looked almost like a male counterpart of the girl. He had the same caramel-blonde hair, but it was cut short and messy. He had the same horns, wings, and tail but had golden, hazel eyes rather than the girl’s purple and yellow eyes. He also wore a crimson, knitted vest and a short-sleeved, sharp-collared undershirt. His beanie hat was the same crimson as his vest, a white pompom settled on top. Without any gloves, he wore a pair of olive tan shorts and white, knee-high socks. He wore small ankle boots, but they were flat and the edges were trimmed with a light gray fur.
The young boy looked down, his bright eyes shining at me.
“Are you alright, miss?”
The boy bent over and held out a hand. Oh- he’s helping me up . I’d forgotten to stand back up.
“Sorry, Rose and I were having a race. We didn’t mean to run into you.” Rose? Was that the girl’s name? I could only suppose, since there weren’t any others with them.
“Ehm, I’m sorry… Are you two, perhaps, a part of a royal family?” I asked them. This is quite a large assumption, but the school I worked in was one that served minor royal classes, along with the heirs of dukes and marquis. They dressed similarly to royals, but even then, neither of the children were wearing crowns or any other symbolization that they were royal whatsoever.
The boy responded, “We are part of a royal family, but we belong to one of the minor kingdoms. We’re not any main element. As for you, you never answered my question on whether or not you’re alright.” The boy hadn’t retreated his hand. I denied the kind gesture however, getting up on my own.
“I am fine, Your Highness. What about her?” I nodded towards the girl. I hope she’s not injured.
“I’m fine, just a little bit.. dizzy…. Sorry for running into you.”
“It’s alright, Your Highness. Please be careful.” I brushed past the two children and picked up the broomstick which I had lost control of when I crashed.
“How come you call us Your Highness? You don’t have to.” The young girl asked with curiosity. It was always custom and strictly taught at the school for the servants to show the most respect possible to the royals, no matter which kingdom they were from. Were these children even supposed to be here? How did they make it here if they didn’t even know something as basic as that?
“It’s a custom, Your Highness. The servants are required to treat the royals with as much respect as possible.”
“Well, then I hereby declare for you not to call us that anymore.” The young girl said, putting her hands on her hips.
“Your Majesty, you cannot cheat past customs without any other notices.” I gave a little bow to the children and began to walk past them, back to where I’d originally been sweeping the dusty floor.
“Aren’t you a servant? If the rules say that you should obey the students and their peers, then by reasoning you must not call me by a royal title.”
This girl was strange and stubborn. This must be some sort of prank or trap to get me to break the rules so I’ll be lectured. There’s no way I’m the only servant she’d do this to.
“You old people are all the same! You don’t wanna be my friend because I’m young, isn’t that it? You use rules as an excuse!” The girl puffed, pointing a finger at me and waving her arm in frustration.
“Of course that’s not it at all, Your Highness! You must understand that it’s against regulations set up by superior authorities that we must address you by your given title.” I tried my best to reassure her, anxiety starting to grip onto me. What if her plan was for me to reject her and make her upset all along? Who are these children working for?
“I’m sorry miss, but we don’t have much company except for each other around here. We have our older sister and brother, but they study here and are currently in classes.”
“So why aren’t you back in your halls studying too? If your siblings study here, doesn’t that mean that you also learn from this school?” What odd children. I started sweeping as I talked to them, making sure I worked on the hygiene as well as the royal’s tempers.
“Our older siblings teach us themselves. We find it more helpful that they teach us rather than being taught by mean old hags who use us for bragging rights. Even though they get cranky sometimes, it’s better than all the time.” The girl responded, dusting off her dress. She still seemed rather upset at my denial to her demotion. Their siblings teach them? How ironic it is that they’re in an academy, but their older siblings teach them rather than the teachers here. What an odd family.
“Anyways, we’re bored, and everyone else here is too old or busy to pay any attention to us.” The girl explained.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to befriend the students here.”
“Well, if we learn under our siblings, then we technically aren’t
students here, are we?” The girl replied quickly.
I guess that would be true, but if their siblings are students then that means that they’re part of a high-class family . I couldn’t help but give into the girl’s sad request.
“I guess you could stick around if you really want to, but I’m just cleaning up right now.”
“What else do you do? Other than… cleaning up?” The girl questioned.
“Well… I serve the royals with personal assistance every now and then. Like running errands or holding their items while they go to their classes.” I also sneak inside the library to read sometimes, but I can’t tell them that.
“Oh… well-” The princess was about to say something before she was interrupted by an elderly woman screaming my name at the top of her lungs. I immediately recognized the scream; I hear it at least 17 times every day. That scream belonged to Madamé, the headmaster of maids and female servants. And she was on my case yet again. I stood and watched as the old woman continued her storm towards us, her duster in hand.
“Azalia! What are you doing?! Don’t you know not to speak with the royals in casual conversation?! You are a maid, you imbecile of a girl!” I should’ve known. I took a very low bow, folding over halfway to both Madamé and the royal children. I decided not to speak, since it would’ve been useless anyways, but the young female’s voice rang up.
“You can stand up, miss.” I lifted my head to the audience in front of me. Once I found it was ok for me to fully stand, I regained my posture.
“We are royals, and we can talk to whichever servant we please in any manner we please.” The girl stuck her chin up in a prideful manner, almost knowing that she actually did have this authority. “You have no right to call your workers mean names like that. And you shouldn’t mind other people’s businesses, either. It’s really rude.” The girl flipped one of her ponytails with a huff, turning her head the other way. I… can’t believe what I’m hearing and seeing. Nobody has ever spoken to Madamé in such a disrespectful manner!
“Come on, miss. Let’s go talk somewhere where people won’t be rude.” She took my wrist. Then what she did was the most audacious, daring, and unbelievable thing; she took my broom from my hand and shoved it into Madamé’s arms. That was that, and she dragged me away, with her brother tagging along behind.